After all those years playing Tony Soprano, James Gandolfini knows his way around a stripper pole.

In Welcome to the Rileys, Gandolfini plays Doug Riley, a plumbing contractor who slips out of a New Orleans convention and pops into a seedy strip club. But this is no Bada Bing, and Doug is not there for a joy ride.

Like Tony, Doug is an emotionally shattered guy who has kept secrets from his wife (Melissa Leo). He also is a take-charge fixer, but not the kind who breaks kneecaps or orders hits.

In a way that happens only in the movies, Doug takes Mallory (Kristen Stewart), a 16-year-old stripper/hooker, under his wing. He sees in her a vague resemblance to the teenage daughter he lost in a tragic accident.

Doug repairs her filthy apartment, paying her for the privilege, and instructs Mallory to clean up her act, including fining her for every F-bomb she drops.

But Doug is no smug Henry Higgins, transforming a tough-talking urchin into a princess. He's a man trying desperately to outrun grief. Resisting her carnal overtures, Doug helps Mallory out of the goodness of his broken heart.

Welcome to the Rileys is an uneven venture. Exploring themes of trust and grief, it is powered by the strength of Gandolfini's and Leo's earnest performances and the moody atmosphere created by director Jake Scott. Leo and Gandolfini bring their characters to life poignantly. Despite their 30-year marriage, he cries alone in his garage and she marvels, unaccompanied, at the starry night sky she hasn't seen in years. But as a convincing tale, Rileys trips up. Gandolfini subtly conveys Doug's shaky emotional moorings. His only false note is an accent that inexplicably toggles between Midwestern and Southern.

Doug's wife, Lois, mourns in a more constricted way. An agoraphobic, she won't — or can't — even venture into her front yard to pick up the mail.

But the script undermines their honest portrayals. Lois fears venturing outside her front door, but somehow she musters the courage to drive from Indianapolis to New Orleans. Her initial scenes stepping out are played for comedy, which strikes a jarring and rather insulting note in this otherwise somber film.

Screenwriter Ken Hixon wisely does not transform Mallory's seamy world into sweetness and light when Doug and Lois come on the scene. But Stewart's one-note range is a stumbling block. She's almost always in foul-mouthed and ungrateful mode, so it's a stretch to imagine that this ordinary couple would be inspired to play surrogate parents.

Stewart's idea of inhabiting this part seems to be to scowl a lot and let her hair go unwashed. The Twilight star doesn't have the depth or emotional agility to go toe-to-toe with Gandolfini and Leo. She emerges as a wretched caricature.

Stories of loss and redemption are tough to pull off without resorting to contrivance or schmaltz. Welcome to the Rileys does manage to avoid sentimentality. But only two-thirds of this unlikely trio comes close to capturing the complexity of anguish and pain.

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